Fourth Patient at Ballwin Treatment Center Alleges Abuse

BALLWIN, MO (KMOX) – A fourth former patient of the Castlewood Treatment Center in Ballwin is filing a lawsuit, alleging the therapy there gave her false memories of sexual abuse.

The woman’s attorney, Ken Vuylsteke, says she was in her late 30s in 2010 when she spent several months at Castlewood for an eating disorder.

“She was subjected to hypnosis, psychotropic drugs, and she came to believe she had suffered physical and sexual abuse by a relative, she had suffered multiple rapes by a family member,” Vuylsteke said. “These are all memories she did not have before she went to Castlewood.”

All four of the former Castlewood patients in the suits claim they were given false memories of past abuse, two of them claim the false memories involved satanic rituals. No trial date has been set in any of the cases.

“The instances of this type of thing, if at all, specifically satanic ritual abuse, if it ever occurs, certainly is not occurring to patients who happen to cluster in this particular treatment facility in St. Louis, Missouri,” Vuylsteke said. “It’s just not possible.”

Castlewood has not yet seen the latest suit, but their website comments on the more recent suits, suggesting they are copycats. Castlewood calls the allegations in the original lawsuit “false, absurd and bizarre.”

Furthermore, in a statement to KMOX, Castlewood claims “the allegations in this and the other cookie cutter-style lawsuits filed by the plaintiff’s attorney in this case against Castlewood are categorically false.”

“Like the other complaints, this one aims to generate publicity with bizarre, lurid allegations that are the stuff of Hollywood. Castlewood’s dedicated professionals deserve better than to be maligned in this manner. Countless individuals who, along with their loved ones, once feared all options had run out have sought and received treatment for anorexia and bulimia at Castlewood, one of the rare facilities specializing in eating issues involving post-traumatic stress often caused by sexual abuse.”